Distraught man stopped from jumping

April 19, 2013

LISBON - Police were called to the South Market Street bridge at 1 p.m. Thursday after receiving a call about a man threatening to jump into the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek, which is only about two feet deep.

Officer Shar Daub said she and Chief Mike Abraham found the 42-year-old Salineville man sitting on the banks of the creek under the bridge along with a female friend. The woman tracked him down there after reading his Facebook postings in which he was threatening to jump off the bridge. After finding him at the bridge, the woman contacted the man's father, who called 911.

The man was uninjured and appeared drunk.

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Morning Journal/Patti SchaefferAuthorities responded to the South Market Street bridge in Lisbon Thursday after a man threatened to jump.

"She said she had been trying for several hours to get him to go to the hospital," Daub said of the woman.

Despite his threats, there is no evidence the man ever tried to jump from the 15-foot high bridge into the water, which is only about two feet deep in that area at the moment.

"He was threatening to jump off the bridge but there is no indication he was ever on the bridge. He said it was too high," Daub said. "Like I said, he was pretty intoxicated."

Daub said they found a bag of empty beer cans with him. Although the man's license listed a Salineville address, he told police he was currently homeless.

Police were finally able to convince the man to seek medical attention, so an ambulance was summoned to transport him to Salem Community Hospital. "We pretty much convinced him to go to the hospital to be checked out," Daub said.